


Table It

by Hereliesbethboland



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Making Out, One Shot, Romance, bit of angst, idiots who can't help themselves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29797008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hereliesbethboland/pseuds/Hereliesbethboland
Summary: Rio shows up before Beth leaves for Vegas. s3 canon divergent ficlet.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 11
Kudos: 78





	Table It

She sees him there, sitting on the picnic table like old times and thinks for a moment that he’s a mirage. Then their eyes meet and the feeling that shoots through her chest is anything but her imagination. She quickly rinses the dish she’s cleaning, sets it on the mat and dries her hands.

She hadn’t been thrilled about Dean and the kids flying ahead of her to Vegas, but now she’s grateful as she makes her way out the back door, running her fingers through her hair and looking down at her shirt and jeans ensemble for renegade dust. 

He stands as she nears him, stuffing his hands in the light hoodie he’s wearing. 

“What are you doing here?” she asks softly, clearing her throat when the words catch. 

She hadn’t seen him in a few weeks. Not since they’d officially parted ways, deciding mutually that it would be wise to end on a good note after successfully thwarting the feds. 

Again. 

He shrugs and looks to the side. “Heard you were leavin’,” he says. 

His words surprise her. She wants to ask how he heard but decides against it because it doesn’t matter. The real question is how does her leaving constitute him being at her house? 

When Judith passed unexpectedly a few months prior, she left them a substantial inheritance, and the timing suddenly seemed right for Dean to take the job in Vegas. 

The idea had really started to appeal to Beth. A fresh start, Dean had called it.

She’d ignored the voice that relentlessly reminded her that their marriage was way past expiration, thinking that a geographical change might do the trick this time. It’s the same voice which continues to remind her of the definition of insanity; the one she’d picked up at those meetings she went to for a time. 

_“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”_

But things are different this time. Aren’t they? 

And so she set the plan in motion. Tried something new and communicated with Rio this time, asking to be cut loose and inquiring about “broken contract” fees. They’d worked around the clock to meet his exit demands which included extra fees for burning their operation and throwing the feds off their scent. 

In the end, she and the girls came out of their business with Rio empty-handed and they’d been fine with it, grateful to be done for good and still have their freedom intact. 

Not to mention _their lives._ He’d never asked why she wanted out. 

“Is there…. I thought we cleared everything up. Did I miss something?” she asks.

They’d been thorough, painstakingly so, making sure to do everything he’d asked and paying him every last cent he’d felt entitled to. And so now, as she goes back over the figures in her head, she’s scanning all the details in seconds and trying to locate any area she may have overlooked. 

She doesn’t want any loose ends.

Rio shakes his head, eyes boring into hers and she waits for him to elaborate. He doesn’t, of course, but she does see a shift; notices when he goes from looking to _searching_ and she wants to blink, cough, move away— anything. But he has her hypnotized again and so she stares back. 

Finally, he huffs and looks down and she’s able to blink the dryness from her eyes. 

“What?” she asks, patience wearing thin.

He kicks the ground a few times before looking at her again. “Just wanted to say goodbye,” he says. 

“Oh,” she breathes out, smiling in relief. 

He smiles too, a small one, and then he’s moving closer. She rears back, sort of dazed when he stops inches from her chest and looks down at her. 

Beth holds her breath as he raises his hand and slowly runs two fingers down the side of her face, a shiver passing through her that she’s pretty sure he notices. It’s been ages since he’s done that stupid _thing_ that he does, and though she’d _swore_ she’d swat his hand away if he ever tried it again, all she can do is revel in the gentle nostalgia the simple act brings. 

“What are you doing?” she asks again. This time she hears her own desperation and wishes she was better at hiding from him. 

“You already asked me that,” he says, his hand dropping off to hang at his side. 

Every time she breathes, their chests touch and it's been so long since they’ve been this close that the effect of his nearness is intense and immediate. She smells his elegant cologne; earthy, understated and so _him_ it _hurts_. 

“Different question,” she says, allowing a soft smile to perk her lips. 

She doesn’t want to battle but their dynamic has a mind of its own. Rio smirks down at her, his eyes popping around her face like he doesn’t know where to settle. 

“Same answer,” he says. 

His previous words swirl around her mind, making her eyes feel heavy. She shifts her gaze to his neck, watching as the wings of his tattoo move when he swallows. 

He wants to say goodbye. 

Her body feels like it’s going to float away and there’s a sudden need to ground herself so before she can change her mind, she touches him…. fingers running gently over the established ink, the distinct feel of his soft skin bringing her back in time. 

She feels a vibration in his throat that she doesn’t hear and chances a glance at his face. He stares fire into her and the effect is instant-- burning a path through her chest quick and bright and manifesting pink on her cheeks. 

She drops off just as he’s reaching for her again. Touching her gently with the pads of his fingers, he tells her what she already knows, a smile creasing his eyes. 

“You’re blushin’,” he says. 

“It happens.” 

He slides his hand into her hair and leans closer. 

“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance,” he says, the words having no power beyond confirming how _not_ serious he is. 

“You couldn’t,” she ventures. 

He stares into her eyes, piercing their blue depths. 

“It happens,” he says, and Beth huffs out a laugh because they both know it _doesn’t._

A surreal silence wraps around them as he leans imperceptibly closer– the reality that she’s leaving creating a space for them to relent; to do what would otherwise not be allowed. 

Beth knows it’s on her to close the distance but she waits a few beats, allowing both souls time to accept the inevitable before gripping the material of his hoodie and lifting up on her toes. Finally, she closes her eyes and presses her lips to his, much like the first time— the plush warmth of them satisfying and devastating all at once. 

Rio grunts softly and pulls her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and splaying his large hand against her back, the force of his kiss bending her slightly backwards. She pushes back into him, whimpering when he bites her bottom lip, and then moaning in absolute satisfaction when his tongue finally dips in. 

He tastes like spiced apples, a sensation that brings her tumbling back in remembrance and greedy for more as she strokes his mouth over and over again— she feels it when he collapses into her further, his desperate moan though quiet, giving away too much. 

She’s giving too though; pouring every feeling into him that she’d bottled up the past year. 

The heat between them intensifies when her hands smooth up his chest and his move south, squeezing her hips. 

“Let’s go inside,” she whispers when he breaks away and noses into her neck. She splays her hand over his abdomen, feeling his muscles clench under her touch. 

“ _Mm_ … we can’t do that,” he says, cursing under his breath when her fingers dip into the waistline of his pants. 

Rio’s body is a contradiction as he kisses the skin behind her ear and slides his hands into the back pockets of her jeans. 

“Why not?” she breathes out, bringing his mouth back to hers with a simple touch to his cheek and kissing him before he can answer. 

He kisses back, passion falling fresh until she’s moving her hips against his in a frenzied attempt to get just… _more_ Her hand slips lower, over the front of his pants and she squeezes him, loving the feel of his hard length and delighting in the gasp she gets from him. 

He groans a little before chuckling against her lips, covering her hand with his and dragging it back up to his chest. Disappointment blooms for a moment and then melts away as they continue to kiss and he holds her hand against his chest, rubbing his thumb back and forth. She feels him tempering his kiss, guiding them to a softer place even as he continues to press his arousal into her welcoming curves. When they pull apart, he lifts his other hand to her chest and lays it there, his fingers spanning a ridiculous amount of skin, and he looks at her. 

“If we do that, I ain’t gonna let you leave. And your babies need you,” he says, pulling back and looking at her earnestly. 

The fog clears a bit at the mention of her children but her desire for him remains an unquenchable inferno. 

“But…” she looks at their joined hands, feels the weight of the moment as it bears down on her, demanding to be acknowledged. It’s the affection that confuses her. After all this time… the comfort that comes from him makes little sense and yet here they are. 

“But what,” he asks, tilting his head to meet her eyes again. 

“I -- ” she falters, meeting the deep brown of his eyes and suddenly feels a boldness he seems to bring out in her. “I _need_ you.” 

She sees something pass over his face— an almost vulnerability in the way his eyelashes flutter and his teeth catch his lip and she thinks… she thinks it looks beautiful on him. 

“Nah, you don’t,” he says. 

Ok, maybe it truly is _want_. But damn if wanting him didn’t feel like a need. A really desperate and far-reaching need. 

“Feels like I do.”

“I know whatchu’ mean,” he says, chuckling humorlessly. 

His admission that the frustration is mutual goes straight to her heart, and as he pulls away, she grabs his hand before he can get too far, linking her fingers with his. Rio looks down at their hands, their arms a collapsed bridge between them. 

“I changed my mind,” he says after a few seconds. 

She looks down at where their fingers are linked as well, feeling him slip away and watching the distance take place in real time. 

“About what?” she asks. 

He squeezes her hand and drops it, shrugging again. This time she sees through the casual facade.

“Bout’ that goodbye,” he says, turning to go. She stares after him in confusion, her breath catching when he angles his face over his shoulder. “I’ll see you later, Elizabeth.” 


End file.
